Beyoncé Knowles Honored; Smokey Robinson, Gloria Gaynor and Ethan Bortnick Perform at “Party of the Year”
Diamond Ball & Private Concert Raises $12 Million for Miami Children's Hospital Foundation


Lucy Morillo and Dr. Narendra Kini
The second-annual star-studded gala raised approximately $12 million for children’s healthcare research and programs at Miami Children’s Hospital, far surpassing last year’s total. Dr. Rafael Herrera and family donated $10 million toward the Miami Children’s Hospital Research Institute.
“We pulled out all the stops to make this the event of the year and it proved to be exactly that,” stated Foundation President Lucy Morillo. “No matter what economic climate we face our benefactors are very passionate about supporting children’s healthcare initiatives and they showed once again how generous this community can be.”

Penny Schaffer, Michael Fux, Gloria Estefan
For a $50 donation, thousands of additional Foundation sponsors and supporters were given select seats to witness Beyoncé’s induction into the Ambassador David M. Walters International Pediatric Hall of Fame and revel in musical performances by the legendary “King of Motown” Smokey Robinson, 70’s Diva Gloria Gaynor, who celebrated her 30th anniversary “I Will Survive” tour, and 7-year-old Ethan Bortnick, the exceptional piano prodigy who has performed with the likes of Sheryl Crow, Nelly Furtado and Natalie Cole.
The Diamond Ball & Private Concert was co-chaired by Patricia and Thomas Cornish, Vivian and Juan Carlos Mas, and Bibiana and Mario Murgado.

Diamond Ball & Private Concert Set
The evening was emceed by Carlos Ponce, who currently appears in NBC’s Lipstick Jungle, starred in the Telemundo soap opera Dame Chocolate (Give Me Chocolate), hosted the Miss Universe Pageant and was a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight. CBS 4 News Anchor Antonio Mora served as celebrity auctioneer for the event.
Sponsors of the 2008 Diamond Ball & Private Concert included: AmericanAirlines Arena, Comcast, Diamond House, Fiji Water, General Motors, Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce, Rene Ruiz Couture, Premier Beverage, and Tzvi Small and Ron Weisner.
Miami Children’s Hospital Foundation (MCHF) is a non-profit 501 (C) (3) organization whose sole mission is to create awareness and generate funds for Miami Children’s Hospital (MCH), the only licensed specialty hospital in South Florida exclusively for children. The
Foundation’s guiding principle is that children’s health care is the primary concern of all and that children are precious like diamonds and thus must have access to state-of-the-art pediatric care. MCH, a 289-bed freestanding facility, is Florida’s only pediatric hospital to be included in U.S. News & World Report’s 2007 listing of “America’s Best Children’s Hospitals.”
Ethan Bortnick
Beyonce Knowles
Gloria Gaynor and Smokey Robinson
Emilio Estefan, Lucy Morillo, Dr. Narendra Kini, Gloria Estefan
Ethan Bortnick, Nicholas Lopez-Morillo, Beyonce Knowles, Adrian Richards, Lucy Morillo
Carlos & Veronica Ponce
Rep. Marco & Jeanette Rubio
Bill Newcomb and Norma Ryder
Antonio Mora
Debra & Jeff Schottenstein
Gloria Gaynor
Juan Carlos & Vivian Mas, Beyonce Knowles, Patricia & Thomas Cornish, Bibiana & Mario Murgado
uan Carlos Mas, Dr. Narendra Kini, Beyonce Knowles, Lucy Morillo, Thomas Cornish, Mario Murgado
Dr. Enrique & Hilda Escalon
Front, Adrian Richards Back, Gail Favors, Demetrius Sawyer and Deshante Munnings
Liz & Brian Stack
Luis & Grace Cordero
Lyle Stern & The Honorable Beth Bloom
Michael & Gloria Fux
Kevin & Geri Keenan and Mirna & Francisco Menendez
Michael Fux, Beyonce Knowles, Gloria Fux
Carlos Ponce
Priya & Kirran Panjabi